This is the third in Simon Sebag Montefiore’s Moscow trilogy. I have read the second one, One Night in Winter, but not the first, Sashenka; the books are only loosely connected and it’s not essential to read all three in order. Montefiore is better known as a historian and writer of non-fiction, but these three books are fictional – although based on real events from Russian history.

Red Sky at Noon tells the story of Benya Golden, a Jewish writer and former teacher who, in 1940, is given the death sentence for “terrorism, conspiracy to murder Comrades Stalin, Molotov, Kaganovich and Satinov, and membership of a counter-revolutionary Trotskyite group”. At the last minute Benya is given a reprieve and instead of being executed he is exiled to the Gulag of Kolyma and sentenced to ten years’ hard labour in the gold mines. Life in the camp is harsh and miserable, so when a chance comes two years later to join a penal battalion (a shtrafbat) formed to fight the Germans, Benya is quick to volunteer. The reward will be the opportunity to win redemption by the shedding of blood – either his own or the enemy’s.

The rest of the novel follows the adventures of Benya, his beloved horse Silver Socks and the assorted group of murderers, Cossack gangsters and fellow political prisoners who fight alongside him in the Soviet cavalry. Together they undertake dangerous missions behind enemy lines, facing death, capture or betrayal – or all three – and for Benya, there is also a romance when he meets a widowed Italian nurse, Fabiana. Of course, with Russia and Italy on opposite sides of the war, it’s clear from the beginning that their love affair is unlikely to run smoothly.

With so much happening and with such an action-packed plot and interesting historical setting, this could have been a wonderful novel, filled with drama, romance and excitement. However, I think Montefiore is probably a better historian than he is a novelist; although I have no doubts that he knows his Russian history, he never quite managed to bring the characters and events in this novel to life. The dialogue didn’t feel entirely convincing and there were only a few moments in the whole book when I felt any real emotional connection to Benya or the other characters, despite the horrors of war that were being described. I remember having similar thoughts about One Night in Winter, which was a more enjoyable novel in my opinion, but another one which made little emotional impact.

I haven’t mentioned yet that there is another thread to the novel, involving Svetlana Stalina. As Stalin’s daughter, sixteen-year-old Svetlana is a lonely and isolated figure, who has experienced little in the way of love and friendship as people are afraid to get too close because of who her father is. Svetlana’s story doesn’t really have anything to do with Benya’s, but it offers insights into life in the Stalin household and does add another layer to the novel. I’m not sure if I would want to read more of Montefiore’s fiction – although Sashenka does still sound tempting – but I’m curious to know what his non-fiction is like.

Benya Golden, a Jewish writer, has been imprisoned in a Gulag. Rotting away he is rescued by a group of gangsters and given privileges that keep him alive but he realises that he will never escape. A chance appears in the form of the opportunity to join a Cossack band in the Army fighting the Nazis as they approach Stalingrad, a chance for redemption or death. Meanwhile an erstwhile friend of his is conducting a dangerous and secret correspondence with Stalin's teenage daughter. As Benya falls in love with an Italian nurse he is charged with a mission that could change his life.

This is a complex but gripping story. Benya is a man placed in an impossible situation and he tries the best he can to get out of it. The romance is handled sensitively and writing about the horses is wonderful. Whilst visceral in parts when describing battle, this is also a very gentle tale.

Unable to review as I didn't read the book in full

Simon Sebag Montefiore is one of my favourite popular history writers, and this book, yet another great success.

The story of the Penal Battalions of the Soviet Army during the Second World War is a fascinating one, and this novel constructed around one such battalion, a Cossack cavalry brigade used to hold up German advances towards Stalingrad and the river Don, tells an enthralling and exciting tale. Only ‘normal’ criminals such as murderers, rapists and cannibals should have been eligible for recruitment to such battalions, but the political prisoner, Benya Golden, a Jewish writer, manages to inveigle his way into a brigade. Their assaults upon the Germans are intended to be suicidal, redemption to be earned through the spilling of blood, but Benya’s section has the great good luck to move against Italians and unlike most of their comrades survive the assault. What to do then? They were forbidden to retreat and there was no plan for them, as they were not expected to survive the first attack. Their decision is to attack and kill Russian traitors fighting for the Germans and to earn their redemption that way. The story that follows is high adventure, combined with Benya’s romance with an Italian nurse, combined with the deeper strategic intrigue of Stalin’s planning – an exciting, dramatic and intelligent mix. The characterisation in the book is a real strength, from the fictional such as Benya to those who really lived such as Stalin himself and his intensely intelligent daughter Svetlana.
Although this is the third in a series of ‘Stalin’ novels, I would emphasise that it can be read without reference to the others – in fact I have not yet read the others, but will hasten to do so! Apart from the intricate plotting, the sentence of death held over all the soldiers and especially Benya adds tension to the story right to its finish. This is a wonderful read, so well written and deeply satisfying to the reader.

I don’t often give up on books, especially those that NetGalley kindly let me have for review, but I couldn’t go on with this one. Simon Sebag Montefiore is a renowned non-fiction writer and I have thoroughly enjoyed his books of biography and history. But he is no novelist and I found this one unreadable. He’s done his research, certainly, but research alone does not a novel make. His style is so clichéd, his characters so stereotyped with no character development and his dialogue so inauthentic that even though his subject matter is fascinating (especially as I have recently been studying the plight of the Cossacks during and after WWII) this poorly written novel had nothing to offer me. All summed up for me by some of the characters constantly spouting “Just saying….” An anachronism too far…..

I usually start the review with one of the quotes I like the most. In this case, this is practically impossible, not because there weren't any, but because there are too many. I have marked way too many passages in the book and even in the prologue.

I like that the book is written from two perspectives, both from a political prisoner from a gulag, and Stalin's daughter. It really gives the insight into both sides of Soviet Russia. The characters are fleshed out and it is easy to sympathise with them. Well, not with all of them, but then again, there have to be villains in the book, right?

It is one of the many World War II based novels I have read in the past months, but it was original and offered a different perspective as they are mostly written from a Western point of view, or they focus on Germany. I have not read many that would focus on Russia as much and manage to show the two opposing sides in the same book with such ease.

I will post the review on my blog and on Goodreads when the book comes out.